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I worked on the Block 0 CIWS for over 14 years, both on board ship and shore duty.... it was hydraulic driven so shot at 3000rds/min... 50rds/sec... Block 1 was electrically driven and could shoot up to 6000rds/min. Never had a chance to empty the drum.... closeness was about 350 rds on a TDU... as with any weapons.... cleaning was the best part....

Right - I believe there is a rate selector switch for the M61 gun in fighters as well. The F-16 for instance only carries 550 rds of 20mm. It is used in very short bursts. The idea for aerial gunnery is you get a pattern of lead out there like a shotgun.

The CIWS is an amazing weapons system with its automated radar directed fire control system. There is a video I ran across on youtube a while back that showed test footage of a more advanced version of the CIWS - I don't think it was the original Vulcan cannon... Anyway, in the high speed video they are shooting at a low altitude cruise missile target drone. The first round misses and impacts the water behind the target. The second round destroys the target drone. The rest of the rounds from the 2-3 second burst just serve to chop up the debris. Its a very impressive video - wish I could find it again!

I recently finished reading the book Random Shots. The author was a US Army weapons tester and he talks about early development that led to the M61 rotary cannon used in all modern US fighters from F-104 through the F-22. (The F-35 uses a different cannon - still rotary though.) Anyway, what I found interesting is that the concept of the Gatling cannon for aircraft use dates back to late WW2 when first proposed and demonstrated by Melvin Johnson (of Johnson rifle fame). The story goes that Johnson actually borrowed an antique Gatling from the Colt museum and hooked it to an electric motor to demonstrate the extremely high rates of fire that could be achieved.

The M61 used in all current US fighters fires at a rate of up to 6000 rds/min. When firing, it sounds like a really fast, loud chain saw. Get on youtube and you can see firing demonstrations of the M61. It is also used in the shipboard CWIS weapons system.